Sussex nutritionist Charlotte Stirling-Reed’s new book offers plenty of family foodie inspiration that’s affordable, but also healthy. Here’s three recipes from How To Feed Your Family
BAKED BANANA BARS (pictured top)
I love an on-the-go brekkie idea and these porridge bars have been such a hit with my kids. They work great as a snack as well, and are very easy to put together. They take a little time on the cooking front, but next to no time to prep, and are well worth it. They freeze well so are perfect for batch-cooking, and you can vary what you make them with according to what you have in your fridge
Makes 24 small squares or 12 bars
Hands-on time 5 minutes
Cook time 45–55 minutes
INGREDIENTS
100g porridge oats
180ml milk of choice
2 large, very ripe bananas (around 200g in total)
85g sultanas (or raisins, chopped dates, chopped dried apricots)
1/2 tsp mixed spice (or ground cinnamon or nutmeg)
3 tbsp mixed seeds (ground for babies/toddlers
METHOD
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan and line a 20cm square shallow baking tin with non-stick baking paper. Mix all the ingredients together (except the seeds), then mash it well with a fork to completely break up the bananas. Once everything is well mixed, scoop it into the baking tin and level the top. Sprinkle the mixed seeds on top (leave off or grind if serving to babies and young children).
2. Bake for 50–55 minutes, until the top is golden and crisp. Once cooked, remove from the tin using the baking paper and leave to cool on a rack until either warm or cooled to room temperature.
3. Slice into 24 small squares, or 12 larger bars to serve. The bars will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days, or can be wrapped in cling film/beeswax and frozen individually, then defrosted on the counter overnight ready for the morning. You can also reheat them uncovered in a microwave for 30 seconds if you’d like them warm
For babies and young children: They should be okay with the texture of these as soon as they have moved on to slightly more complex finger foods. Avoid whole seeds, offer them ground instead, or simply leave them off any of the bars/squares that are for your baby/toddler.
COVER ALL CURRY
Curries are a go-to for many families, but it can be tricky when your kids aren’t familiar with hotter, or spicier flavours. This curry is a perfect ease-in – it’s easy to adapt the heat (if you want more spice, add more), but it’s also simple, has a lovely flavour and contains veggies that children usually love! You can easily vary the veggies, of course. This one was a winner with Raffy and has become a firm favourite.
Serves 4
Hands-on time 10 minutes
Cook time 25-30 minutes
INGREDIENTS
1 tbsp vegetable oil
200ml hot water
1 white onion, peeled and thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped or crushed
Handful of coriander, stalks finely chopped and leaves reserved for the top, or ½ tbsp dried coriander
1 carrot, peeled and cut into thin rounds
300g butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into 2cm chunks
½–1 tbsp mild curry powder
400ml tin coconut milk
400g tin chickpeas, drained
100g mangetout, roughly chopped into thirds
TO SERVE
Cooked basmati rice
Natural yoghurt or dairy-free alternative
Lime wedges
METHOD
1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan (or wok) over a medium heat, add the onion, garlic, coriander stalks (no tops) and carrot. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Add the butternut squash and mild curry powder and cook, stirring, for another 5 minutes.
3. Add the coconut milk, 200ml of hot water and the chickpeas and cook for 15–20 minutes (until the squash is soft and the sauce reduces a little).
4. Add the mangetout for the final 5 minutes.
5. Serve with rice, yoghurt dolloped on top and the picked coriander leaves (if you fancy) and a squeeze of lime.
For babies and young children: Blend the sauce with the veggies in a separate bowl, or just make sure you chop those veggies really well for toddlers. You also might want to go a bit easier with the curry powder.
LOWER-SUGAR MARBLE CAKE
This is such a simple cake and, as per most of my Celebrations recipes, it’s much lower in sugar than your average. I love this cake – it reminds me of being on holiday and having cake for breakfast! It’s super light and fluffy, and even though it’s lower in sugar it’s still nice and sweet. You can make it into a classic marble loaf cake if you like – which is the more traditional shape – but I wanted to make this into a recipe you could turn into a perfect birthday cake for the whole family; it is a great party cake, just make double the batter to turn it into a layered cake. It is perfect for getting the kids involved with too
Makes: a single layer cake (double up the recipe to make another layer)
Hands on time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 25–30 minutes
Cook’s tip: If you are doubling the mixture and making a layered cake, you could fill it with chia seed jam and natural yoghurt
INGREDIENTS
80g Greek yoghurt
4 tbsp olive oil
90g light brown sugar
80ml milk of choice
1 large free-range egg or 1 flaxseed egg
150g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1½ tbsp cocoa powder
FOR THE TOPPING
100g Greek yoghurt
1 tbsp of icing sugar,
150g fresh strawberries and/or raspberries, trimmed.
METHOD
1. Preheat the oven to 200 ̊C/180 ̊C fan. Grease a loose-bottomed 20cm cake tin. If using a flaxseed egg, make this now.
2. In a large bowl (or stand mixer) whisk the yoghurt, oil and sugar until combined. Stir in the milk and egg (or flaxseed egg), then mix in the flour and baking powder.
3. Pour half the cake mix into the tin, then mix the cocoa powder in the remaining mix in the bowl to create chocolate batter. Pour into the cake tin and swirl through the plain vanilla mix. Smooth out the top and bake for 25–30 minutes or until it is cooked through and golden on top.
4. Remove from the oven. Let the cake cool in the tin for 5 minutes then carefully remove from the tin and allow to cool completely on a rack.
5. Once the cake has cooled completely, sprinkle it with some icing sugar, and top with some strawberries/raspberries. If you are making a double layer then you could fill with a little thick natural Greek yoghurt, little chia seed jam and a little thick natural Greek yoghurt and then pop another marble cake on top and dust with icing sugar.
Charlotte Stirling-Reed’s How to Feed Your Family: Your one-stop guide to creating healthy meals that everyone will enjoy is published by Ebury Press on 20 July, priced at £18.99
